Video Visionary Award – Humanitarian Recipient: The Humane Society of the United States

This summer we announced the RealPlayer Video Visionary Award – Humanitarian. The award recognizes non-profit organizations that have used video in innovative and creative ways to help share their message.

We’re pleased to announce our next recipient of the award is The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The organization is dedicated to keeping animals safe and fighting for the rights of animals. Their work includes exposing the injustices done to animals, rescuing and finding good homes for animals from all walks of life, and being a relentless advocate for animals. Eleven million supporters in the United States and around the world back the Humane Society.

ONLINE VIDEO HELPS EXPOSE ANIMAL CRUELTY

The HSUS YouTube channel and website have great online videos that show off the organization’s work. It’s the innovative way they use video to expose the cruelty done towards animals in their investigative work that first drew our attention to the site. Watching all the great videos they’ve done using animation and heart-felt story telling techniques just made us want to see more of their online videos. Case in point is this video of Stallone, a pit-bull rescued during a dog-fighting raid.

Note: This is a truly heartbreaking video to watch.

VIDEO VISIONARY INTERVIEW WITH THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES

We caught up with Chad Sisneros, the Humane Society’s Senior Director of the Video Department, which produces video for HSUS, to learn more about the organization and how the use of video helps spread its message. What follows is our interview with the Video Visionary Award – Humanitarian recipient:

RealPlayer (RP):How has video contributed to helping the overall cause of the Humane Society?

Chad Sisneros (CS): Video is an amazing tool. It helps us showcase the life-saving work of The HSUS in many areas: campaigning, education, fundraising, etc. Once people see the great work we’re doing, they want to offer support.

RP: What led the Humane Society to start creating videos?

CS: The HSUS started streaming videos in 1998 with Real Networks. The video frame size was a lot smaller than today, but it was the start of something amazing. We were included as a default “Real Channel” on one of the original RealPlayer iterations. It was a great introduction to the world of video streaming.

RP: Who is responsible for all the great videos on the site?

CS: We have a small team of full-time shooters and editors who produce our amazing videos. They’re a great team who are compassionate towards creating a humane society.

RP: There is such a variety of video topics and style on The Humane Society are some more popular than other and if so, why?

CS: The HSUS mission statement is “Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty.” We constantly try to strike a balance between those two paths in our videos. Sometimes these issues just lend themselves to a different sort of presentation as is the case in the video below. One of our editors had a fresh take on the issue of not tethering your dog, and used animation to attract a younger audience:

RP: Where can people go to learn more about The Humane Society and help spread the word?

About The Author

Joni Blecher, RealPlayer Blog Editor - Joni started covering technology back when cell phones didn't have color displays and quickly made a name for herself in the mobile industry as CNET's "Cell Phone Diva." In addition to covering everything mobile, she has launched and edited multiple blog sites. When Joni started appearing in product review videos, she fell in love with the story-telling format and honed her video skills to include producing and editing videos. Joni has made appearances on CNN, BBC, CNBC's Bulls Eye, and Good Day New York to discuss the latest in technology. When she's not spending her time writing or shooting video you can find her exploring and tasting the latest food trends.
Follow her on Twitter @JoniBlecher